1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf club head and more specifically to a process for coating a titanium or titanium alloy golf club head and to the manufacture of titanium inserts.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Over the years, more materials are being used to construct a golf club head of a golf club. Conventionally, the golf club head was formed of a cast metal and more specifically, the golf club head was formed of stainless steel. It is also known to fabricate a golf club head formed of several materials in which, typically, a face insert formed of a first material is disposed within a golf club head formed of a second material. The face insert is usually formed of a high strength, lightweight metal material, such as titanium.
In years past, the "woods " golf club heads, e.g., a driver or fairway wood, were actually made from wood; however, with the advent of metal "woods " in the golf club industry, the metal "woods " have become the clubs of choice. Metal woods are typically fabricated by investment casting techniques, usually from stainless steel or like metals. Even more recent, metal woods are fabricated from pure titanium or a titanium alloy. A large golf club head generally favors the use of pure titanium or titanium alloys because of their lightweights and high degree of tenacities.
One associated disadvantage of using either a golf club head formed of pure titanium or a titanium alloy or an insert formed from these materials is that a pure titanium material or a titanium alloy material is very difficult to work with and is very expensive. In addition, as is known in the art, it is extremely difficult to coat a titanium surface due to problems with adhering the coating material to the titanium surface. This results because a titanium surface rapidly oxidizes to produce an oxide on the titanium surface. The presence of the oxide creates a surface which prevents other materials from attaching thereto. Consequently, it has been essentially impossible or extremely difficult to coat or apply another material to a titanium surface, e.g., a titanium golf club head or a titanium face insert for use in a golf club head.